Transactions: Taking The Plunge

A few days ago Tim Ford (blog | twitter) put forth a challenge to describe a transaction in a non-technical fashion.  I could have replied to the post directly, but I figured it would be rather wordy.  Instead I decided to follow the lead of Janice Lee (blog | twitter) and write a post about [...]

More Than An Output

No more than an output to me, but it sure was to SQL Server!  This issue kept me busy over the weekend, and most definitely gave me a case of Saturday Night SQL Fever (as opposed to “SQL Saturday Night Fever”, for which the only cure is more karaoke).

When executing a stored procedure with an [...]

Why My Newest Laptop Is A Mac

I’ve never been a fan of Apple.  Despite making a living off SQL Server, I don’t consider myself to be a Windows fanboy by any stretch of the imagination either, but I never imagined that I would buy a Mac.

One of the easiest arguing points back in the day was the availability of software.  Games [...]

T-SQL Tuesday #007: My Favorite 2008 Feature

This post is my contribution to T-SQL Tuesday #007, hosted this month by the SQLChicken himself, Jorge Segarra (Blog | Twitter).

Since I’m a bad DBA and have yet to get my hands on a copy of R2, I’ll make use of the rule that we can discuss any feature from 2008.  My favorite is filtered [...]

Tips for Upgrading SQL Server Versions

At my previous employer I took part in several projects that involved migrating databases not only to new hardware but also to new versions of SQL Server.  We upgraded machines running the 2000 and 2005 versions of SQL Server to 2008.  Here’s how we went about doing it, and some helpful hints we figured out [...]